Archive for the 'Jim Harbaugh' Tag Under 'UCLA' Category

Rick Neuheisel and Mike Johnson met in the 1980s on fields of suburban Phoenix.

"Mike and I," Neuheisel said, "go way back."

Johnson (center in photo) was trying to work his way up the depth chart at Arizona State. Neuheisel was chasing his dream of playing pro football ain the USFL.

"And we were out throwing the ball together," Neuheisel recalled. "He was the quarterback there and I was teaching him how to throw a five-step drop, throw an out, and he listened to me, one of the few guys that ever did, so I decided to be buddies with him."

It was the beginning of a partnership the pair would revive with the Baltimore Ravens and now at UCLA, where, with Johnson as offensive coordinator and Neuheisel taking over quarterback coach duties, they hope to return the Bruins to the top levels of the Pac-10 and national prominence.

While UCLA is close to finalizing a deal with San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Johnson to take over the same position for the Bruins, current UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow remained on Rick Neuheisel's staff Wednesday night, UCLA officials said.

Chow (left in photo with Neuheisel) has been approached by Utah, his alma mater, about the Utes offensive coordinators jobs, sources said.

Unconfirmed internet and television reports Wednesday said Chow would either be hired at Utah this week or that he is likely headed to

San Diego State, where former Bruin defensive coordinator Rocky Long was promoted to head coach Wednesday.

But as of Wednesday night Chow had neither been fired or resigned at UCLA, Bruin officials said, and was expected to attend a Thursday morning staff meeting.

Yet Chow remains in limbo and a replacement has not been hired to replace Bullough.

The defensive delay is more understandable.

The uncertainty surrounding the Stanford and San Diego State head coaching positions is likely impacting UCLA. If Jim Harbaugh goes to the NFL Cardinal defensive coordinator Vic Fangio would be a top candidate for the head coaching position the Farm which would drop him from Neuheisel's list of DC candidates. If San Diego State coach Brady Hoke gets the Michigan job current Aztec and former UCLA defensive coordinator Rocky Long and current SDSU and former Bruin offensive coordinator Al Borges will be the top candidates for that job.

A year ago UCLA began the season 3-0. This past weekend the Bruins avoided 0-3 but might not be able to avoid 1-3 after playing Texas on Saturday.

While no one will fault the Bruins for a loss in Austin, it will conclude a September swing against three consecutive top-25 teams and an out-of-conference slate considered one of the toughest in the nation.

The Bruins' schedule is the primary difference between 2009 and 2010, which might be obscuring another distinction: they are an improved football team.

We'd know this for certain if UCLA had drawn, say, USC's first four games — at Hawaii, home against Virginia, at Minnesota and at Washington State. The Bruins might be on the verge of 4-0.

We took it a step further and did a week-by-week breakdown of how UCLA would fare against USC's entire schedule:

Stanford spent most of the spring working out of a 3-4 defense only to go with a 4-2-nickel package in last Saturday's 52-17 romp over Sacramento State.

Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh on Tuesday tried to sell the idea that UCLA will see the 4-2 scheme in the teams' Pac-10 opener at the Rose Bowl Saturday night.

“Last week we played Sacramento State which is pretty much a one back team that likes to spread the field,” Harbaugh said. “That's good because UCLA is predominantly a one back team that likes to spread the field.”

So is UCLA buying Harbaugh's 4-2 sales pitch?

“Probably not,” Bruin coach Rick Neuheisel said. "(New Stanford defensive coordinator) Vic Fangio is a 3-4 guy. I worked with Vic in Baltimore. He's a disciple of (longtime NFL coach) Dom Capers and a lot of what Pittsburgh does on defense, so they have some 3-4 principles. So I think we have to prepare for 3-4. But they played every snap in 4-2-nickel but I think we'll see both.”

The Pac-10 media thought enough of UCLA to grant it a first-place vote. It also picked UCLA to finish eighth. It was indicative of a jumbled poll in which Oregon (first), Stanford (fourth) and Arizona (fifth) all received ninth-place votes.

The Bruins first-place vote was one more than Washington State, Arizona State and Cal received and equal to two others. It begs the question: Is UCLA underrated or overrated?

Here's what coaches and players said at Pac-10 Media Day when asked for their impression of the Bruins going into this season: